


Let the Slaughter Begin

by EventHorizons13



Series: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Characters [7]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Language, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead), Original Character(s), Zombies, saviors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:55:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23657965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EventHorizons13/pseuds/EventHorizons13
Summary: A series of one shots. Emilia finds her footing in the new world more than she ever did in the old. It hold especially true when she ends up becoming a member of the Saviors.
Relationships: Negan (Walking Dead) & Original Female Character(s), Negan (Walking Dead)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Characters [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075559
Kudos: 1





	1. Readying the Troops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emilia finds an inventive and safe way to teach the young ones at the Sanctuary how to shoot a gun.

The supply run wasn’t exactly something that was necessary. Well to the eyes of most. To me it was. As twisted and fucked up as I was in the head, and that was saying something considering I was majorly screwed in the head, there were certain things that mattered to me. It wasn’t easy to find what I was looking for but I managed to after several hours of looking and traveling. On a solo run, I had plenty of space in the truck to load the supplies without having to leave behind anything. A couple walkers were in the way but they were easily taken care of with the hatchet that I kept on me. Too easy really. I had been hoping for a bit of a challenge, a chance to stretch out my muscles and get a bit messy. Shame that I didn’t run into any strangling survivors.

As soon as I got back to the compound, the gates were opened and I grabbed the few bags and hurried towards one of the rooms that we used as a garage. I was barely given a second glance, those that did stare clearly didn’t know better yet but they would learn. The others would make sure that they were brought up to speed and if not, well I still had some excess energy to use.

I just needed a few bullet casings, screwdrivers, and some malleable thin metal. We had plenty of those sort of supplies laying around. Then the plan would be seen through. Several men were scattered around the room but quickly stood and bowed their heads when I entered the room. With a look that told them what I wanted from them, the men scurried to the door to leave me to my own devices, allowing me to work in peace. Word would get around that I was back and soon enough, I knew that I would have some visitors. Well one in particular.

I aimed down the barrel and pulled the trigger just as I heard the heavy foot falls enter the room. There was only one person that it would be and at the moment, I was more interested in the toys that I had in my hand.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Setting the object down with a satisfied grin, I turned my attention to the tank of helium that I managed to find along with it. I filled up the balloons one by one, fifteen of them for now. A low growl like sound registered behind me and I knew that the man was frustrated that I hadn’t answered him. “You gonna answer me?”

“Kids need to learn how to shoot. We need a safe way of doing it. Here is your answer.” I picked back up the nerf gun with a wide grin on my face. Negan cocked a brow, clearly unimpressed. “They need to know how to defend themselves if shit was to happen. This is a way of making sure that no one ends up with a fucking bullet in their leg.”

“Those pieces of shit can’t shoot accurately.” I spun on my heel and aimed at one of the balloons that sat fifteen feet away. The rubber dart hit the face that I had drawn dead between the eyes.

“Modified them. Took out the pieces that restricted the air, reinforced the casings and springs, made sure that everything moved smoothly. Used to do this shit all the time as a kid. Ended up modifying one enough that it shot bb’s. Ended up killing a neighbor’s cat with it by the time I was nine.” That gave him pause. He didn’t say anything but moved over to take the one out of my hand. I passed it over to him without any sort of fight and he aimed down the barrel to take a shot of his own. It landed clearly where he wanted it to.

“You had some sort of fucked up childhood.”

“Honey, you don’t know the half of it.” The grin remained on my face as I gathered up the toys into the bag once again.

“Why don’t we go celebrate? Me, you, my bed.” I rolled my eyes and turned to face the man once more, crossing my arms over my chest as I had to once again turn down the offer that was being made. He would never learn. I was lucky I was as good of a shot as I was, as ruthless and fucked as I was. Add onto the fact that the past three years had seen us spent more time together and kill more walkers than anyone else. Otherwise I would have ended up at the business end of Lucille, something that I really didn’t want to handle. I had my own anger issues and fucked up ways of dealing with the fucked up world we lived in but that didn’t mean that I was ready to die.

“How about you take one of those slips of women that you keep by your room and enjoy the night with them?” I cocked a brow. “Because it ain’t ever happening.” In those three years, he had been trying to get me into bed and it still wasn’t working. There were more important things to focus on besides getting laid, though he didn’t seem to think so. Which was fine, let him sleep with all the women he wanted. I wasn’t going to be added to the tally count.

His brow furrowed and I could tell that there was a simmering anger underneath the surface. There always was when I turned him down. I had learned to recognize it and work around it. I rolled my eyes and passed him a pack of cigarettes that I had found on the run. It didn’t take much, a couple spare things picked up that no one else knew about and he was back to his normal, jolly self and pleased with me.

“Found those out there. There are two more packs in the bag. Shit is getting harder and harder to fucking find.” He opened the pack and smelled them. Fresh really, seeing as they had still been in the plastic wrapping. Some of the things that we found were half opened, which was dangerous but addiction was addiction after all wasn’t it? He wasn’t going to pass by a pack because it was left behind half used. “I’m gonna set up the working room tomorrow to give the kids their first lesson. You want Simon or Dwight in on this?” I was a better shot than both of them and while I held my own position of power, men will be men. Especially in our new little world order.

“Fuck no. If anyone is teaching the little shits to shoot, it is going to be you.” I nearly snorted out my laughter at his reaction. Well, good to know that he thought so highly of his men and actually nice to know that his opinion of my skills was so high. “Toys or not. They ain’t got shit on your accuracy.”

“If they would clean their fucking ears out and listen to the advice that I gave them for once, they would be able to shoot better. What is it with men and being unable to take advice from a woman huh?” It wasn’t so much a question aimed at him as much as it was a rhetorical one. Men liked to think that I didn’t know what I was talking about but most quickly learned their lesson after I shot at them a couple of times and had them pissing their pants. “Both of them hold the fucking gun wrong.” I mumbled a bit, the subject one that annoyed me more than I cared to admit. Watching someone purposely do something wrong just to avoid listening to me pushed every button and nerve ending that I had. I couldn’t give a shit about them ending their own lives and becoming walkers but it endangered everyone else if they couldn’t handle the situation or missed a shot because they were assholes. I rather liked the sanctuary that we set up and that wasn’t allowed to go down the drain. We had power, respect, and other people doing a lot of work for us. It was a fantastic set up.

“Let them get their fucking faces chewed off then.” He placed a cigarette between his lips. “What time are you setting up? We have to head to Hilltop tomorrow.” Shit, I forgot about the run we were making to the settlement. Which he would surely know by the way that I went ridged for just a split second.

“Heading over early right?”

“Yeah. Probably not too long after sunrise.”

“Guess when we get back then. Not missing that trip.” Once more, he was all grins and I could feel more tension leak from my shoulders. “Too much fun watching them run in a panic.” Really, we weren’t well in the head but most of the time I really didn’t think either of us realized it quite as much as maybe we should have. Others got to see the full brunt of it where as when we watched each other, there was more of an enjoyment, much more amusement than those that held respect and fear within themselves.

“You know none of the kids are gonna be able to focus longer than five minutes right?” I wasn’t really known for my patience but none of the men knew how well I could handle children. Maybe that stemmed from my own childhood or maybe it was the one piece of me that came close to resembling normal that hadn’t been lost in the hellhole of a world that we lived in.That wouldn’t be kept a secret for too much longer from the men.

“Don’t expect any of them to be able to shoot worth a shit. That’s why they are going to learn. Gonna make it easier when they get a bit older and can finally go on runs. Rather have the bullet end up in the skull of the sniveling mess that sits in front of you rather than in my own fucking back.” It would be fun for them too, if I was being honest with myself. Give them a good distraction and something other than the four walls to stare at. “Do something productive.” He nodded, a sign of agreement from him.

“They can practice on walkers and anyone outside the walls.”

“Once they are old enough to be trusted with a gun sure. This will prep them better and ensure that less time is spent when they are old enough. Speeds up the whole process, safely for us. Keeps the little shits moving and less likely to get in trouble too.” Walkers or not, kids would be kids and a five year old could cause more trouble than either of us thought possible.

“Alright, alright. I’ll see how it goes tomorrow.” It was all but permission to do what I was going to do anyway. But it helped to have his backing that was for sure. It meant less hassle for me when it came to other men around the compound.

“I’m going to drop this shit over there now. Usual meeting tonight?”

“Yeah. I’ll see ya in the cafeteria then.” He finally left the room, just as I was pulling the bag over my shoulder. Shaking my head, I moved in the opposite direction to drop off the supplies. I had to switch gears, get my mind ready for the trip to Hilltop. The dead were one thing but the living were an entirely different beast. Unpredictable and desperate, it made them much more dangerous than any walker out there. I kept on my game to keep myself and Negan safe.


	2. Who the Fuck are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the world has come and Emilia is making her way through it as best as she can. So her sense of humor may be a little twisted. What happens when she and her group come across another with a leader just as off as she is?

Things had gone to shit. That was putting it lightly for those with a weak constitution. The dead were walking around, zombies were real shit and to wrap a head around that was almost impossible. Of course, it was a tad easier for some people to adapt than it was others. I had no remorse or problems killing the things as they walked. The mentality of eat or be eaten had taken over. The phrase had never seemed more accurate than now though as literally, one would be eaten if they couldn’t get their heads out of their asses to kill the reanimated corpses. A lot of people couldn’t seem to grasp the concept and ignore them all. If they got in my way, well they went the way of the walkers too. It had attracted a few people to me but I only allowed those that could hold their own to stick around me. I wasn’t about to carry dead weight of those that could not survive the new world.

It was ruthless perhaps but I didn’t see a problem with it. Some did have a problem but were quickly silenced. Spare meat was occasionally helpful to distract a group of walkers. Which kept everyone else that wanted to follow me around quiet. They didn’t want to be the next ones to end up chop in a bucket tossed for the rest of us to get away.

We had been on the road for a few days, searching for supplies. The food we carried was running dangerously low which just put us all on edge. Ammo was getting a bit low too, though we had found that it was much more effective and drew a hell of a lot less attention to us when we smashed the things in the head. Which made for some interesting competitions between me and a few of the men that had stuck around. Things like who could get the most hits dead center between the eyes, the most decapitations, body parts chopped off before having to off the walker, and the like were just the tip of the iceberg. Laughter often rang out in the area, scaring off others who might approach. We were a bit off, we all knew it but reveled in the uncaring nature that we were allowed to carry when it came to it.

Sounds drew our attention from another section of the city that we were currently in. It wasn’t the typical growl and groan of walkers either. It sounded like another group, voices drifted to our ears and we all grinned widely. It could prove to be much more fun than we had in a few days and it could provide us with some more supplies than what we could scavenge. We split up into twos, my group taking the left around the edge of the shops while I had Mark take the right side, along the trees. If one group was caught, we had the other to take out whoever it was. We were capable enough at working divided that we didn’t think anything of it. We had yet to run across anyone that was capable of really handling us, any that posed more than a small problem. As we rounded a corner, slowly and with more caution than what might have been necessary in our heads, we came face to face with a group of tough looking men. Weapons were immediately aimed at one another as the guy who stood in the front with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire was in a face off with myself. My own weapon of choice, a hand fashioned club with spikes peppering the end was in a standoff with his bat. There was a silent moment of observation between us as we both observed and assessed the situation.

“Well I’ll be damned, I didn’t think a fine piece of ass like yourself would have survived this mess.” My men tightened around me a little more. Mark and his group would surely have rounded by now and had to be waiting for my signal. I held off giving it, too intrigued at the moment. A smirk came to my face, my stance never wavering.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you.” I watched as his eyes darkened for a moment, licking his lips as he tried to figure out the game we were playing. “Guess I should pass along a thanks for doing all our work for us.” I nodded towards the bags that his men were carrying.

“You’re fucking funny you know that? It’s cute that you think you are going to take our supplies.” He swung the bat a little more threateningly and I barely blinked an eye at it. Right now, I wasn’t all that concerned. We had the numbers advantage, even if he didn’t realize that. I wasn’t in too much danger at the moment.

“Denying a lady? That isn’t very becoming of a gentleman.” I cocked my head to the side, the smirk still on my lips. His own was playing across his face. There was a dangerous mind hiding behind those eyes, a kindred spirit to me and my men, though I didn’t understand just who he was yet.

“Where are my fucking manners? Please, fucking excuse me. Name’s Negan. And who the fuck are you? What are you doing near our territory?” I nearly laughed. I wondered why sort of compound these guys had set up. I glanced back to the boys as they remained trained on the others behind Negan.

“Oh, fucking relax already boys. We clearly ain’t blowing each other’s brains out yet. Can’t ya see we are having a conversation and it really isn’t polite to be pointing guns at the other half of the conversation?” I turned back to Negan, as he raised a hand and told his own men to lower their guns. “Now, that’s better. Emilia Rogers. Now, I suggest you stay right where you are otherwise you are gonna make my boys in the trees a bit twitchy and then things get messy and we just can’t keep having this nice exchange.” There was a tension but it was easing as the seconds ticked by, though that comment had his head swinging to the trees.

“Fucking tricky little bitch.” I rolled my eyes and gave a holler.

“Mark, get your ass out here and bring the rest of the boys over.” The six bodies appeared and moved towards us, their weapons lowered. “Thank you.” Before anything else could be said or done, the loud growl that signaled a group of walkers echoed in the area. I threw my head back with a bit of a groan before turning to Scotty.

“Shit only counts as one when you take off the fingers alright? None of that cheating shit by counting them understood?” He grinned and shrugged a bit. “Alright boys, playtime is about to begin.” Negan and his men watched, while the rest of his men looked unsure, he was still smiling.

“How about a bet then if you are keeping track?” That intrigued me as I twirled my club around in a small arc.

“Listening.”

“I fuck more of this bastards up than you, you come back with me to the compound. You managed to kill more, you get to leave with the supplies.” Man was confident, I would give him that. He was counting my men, clearly thinking that he could use more bodies. Mark and Scotty shrugged, thinking it might turn into a win-win for us no matter the outcome.

“I’ll take you up on that.” I stepped around from behind the building and swung hard atthe chin of a walker, watching as half the skull came flying off. Laughing softly, I let the weapon drop to my side for a moment, glancing backward. “One up already. Best get moving Negan.”

The carnage piled up, bodies of walkers dropping like flies. A small line of sweat was forming on my brow as the sun beat down on us. I had lost track of the tally that Negan was keeping, focusing on my own. Damn, this was a large group of the walkers. But we were working through the numbers, rapidly between all of us. At one point, I had pulled my gun, taking out the walker that had cornered Mark and then the one coming up behind Negan. The shots were fired fast, hit their marks before I spun and had to swing at another one of the dead bodies. I didn’t see the look of appreciation that crossed the new man’s face, focused on keeping myself alive. The noise didn’t help things but it kept people alive. I wanted to see who would win the bet and Mark was going to be hard to replace if I let him get eaten alive.

When the final walker went down under Scotty’s blade, I let out another laugh, wiping some blood from my chin. That had been a bit more of a challenge than we had had in a while.

“All accounted for?” Scotty and Mark nodded. “Good, now let’s see who won this bet.” Negan had his men gathered around.

“Final count sweetheart?”

“Twenty four.”

“Twenty six.” I debated calling him out on it in case it was bullshit but something held me back.

“Deal is a deal. Guess we are following you back.” He cocked a brow.

“No fight? Little surprised that you admit defeat so easily.”

“What’s the point? More walkers are going to show up sooner rather than later and you are the one with the supplies.”

“Give up the guns.” I shook my head.

“We are out of bullets. We ain’t giving up the guns, they are harmless right now.”

“Hand them over or we’ll finish this here right now.” I glanced around at the men who looked tense and uneasy at the idea but I just sighed, knowing that we needed shelter and food more. Besides, the men standing around me really didn’t want to die, I knew that much. As tough as they were, no one had a death wish. Numbers or not, they had guns that still had some ammunition so we were in the negative here. Jerking my head, the guys threw down their weapons and Negan’s men picked them up.

“That wasn’t so hard now was it? Now, let’s get moving.” He grabbed me by the arm and tugged me along. I still had my club at my side, allowing things to happen right now. “You fight a lot fucking better than I thought you would. Better than some of the shitheads I have with me.” I rolled my eyes, glancing at the men. Each group was carefully taking us in, trying to decipher something almost. Let their little minds wander to their hearts content.

“You think I survived this long on looks alone?” I shrugged just a bit. “The men and I often make a contest outta shit. Ain’t just my charming personality that has them following me.” He actually chuckled, the sound lighter than expected.

“Can see that. Guess you’re just gonna have to get fucking used to being bested.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Got one hell of a shot too.”

“Ain’t even all that accurate with the handgun. Give me a rifle and I could pick off these bags of rotten meat all day long. Dead between the eyes, one hundred times over.” There was a glint that came to his eyes. He wanted to test that theory and I would be more than glad to accommodate. If he had the ammo to spare. It could be the start to an interesting relationship.


	3. The Boss's Favorites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emilia and Simon come to an even ground and find a present to bring back to Negan.

I groaned softly as my head titled back against the truck seat, not at all in the mood to have to put up with this shit. Not that I had much of a choice seeing as the orders had come directly from the Negan’s mouth. When I went on runs, I really preferred to go by myself and I preferred to avoid all of the little settlements that Negan had working for him. I didn’t work well with most people, as everyone in the compound knew. At least I didn’t when those people were weak and couldn’t handle themselves. If I couldn’t be out there with someone killing walkers and making a game out of it, they really weren’t worth my time. A trip to Hilltop did not constitute being worth my time but Negan had decided that Simon needed some company and wanted the place double checked for the runaway that had gotten the best of Fat Joey.

And there was my second problem. I was with Simon. Now, I really didn’t have too much of a problem with the man. He was loyal as all hell and got shit done. It was the sort of work attitude that I actually appreciated. He was funny, could make a damn joke out of anything. But he wasn’t all that fond of me seeing as he saw me competing for his spot as a right hand man. Not that I wanted it or to push him out of his position. I was content where I was, with the responsibilities I had. I wasn’t looking to add to it or have more thrown on my head if shit went wrong. Such things often left us at each other’s throats, much to Negan’s apparent amusement. This could be why he decided to send us on the run together.

Just a sick form of torture as if he was somehow upset with one of us, or possible both. And he probably was given the fact that the man from Alexandria had slipped out of the compound without anyone but Joey realizing it. I was pissed about it so surely he had to be stewing over it. It left us in a bit more danger than I think anyone besides Negan realized. The man knew where the Sanctuary was, knew the layout, and knew how we functioned. Those were things that just could not be made accessible knowledge. Especially not when so many people were pissed at us and Negan for everything that we did. The empire couldn’t be allowed to topple.

I glanced out of the corner of my eye at the man sharing the truck cab with me when he chuckled at the sound of my groan.

“You can’t be exhausted yet. We haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet! Gregory has probably even got some nice fruit to eat when we get there. Maybe a little tequila to go with it.” I cocked a brow as he spoke, wondering if he was actually serious about that.

“The weak prick has managed to keep a bottle of liquor. Shame on you Simon, I thought you scavenged better than that.” His response was just flipping me his middle finger. It was somewhat civil right now but who knew when that would turn. There was still a steady tension that sat between us. I went back to looking out the window until we arrived at Hilltop, already bored out of my mind.

It took us about an hour and a half more to make it to the settlement. The wooden walls were a bit impressive, I had to admit. That took some work to get built so clearly they weren’t exactly slackers here. As soon as Simon had killed the engine, my feet were on the ground and I was taking in the seemingly peaceful surroundings. Trailers lined one wall where I assumed the people lived. Not too shabby. The giant mansion, well that could only belong to Gregory. After all, why not enjoy the spoils when you were the leader? Simon led the way, though I was close on his tail as we entered the large building. It seemingly remained untouched by the decaying world around it. Even the chandelier still hung, which got a laugh out of me. I motioned for a few of the men to go and start looking for things to take.

“Greg! How nice to see you again.” Simon walked up to him and greeted him like an old friend but the tension held in his shoulders didn’t let him fake it too well. Gregory looked eager to please but terrified. Great, another spineless prick. Which just meant that he was likely to look for a convenient way out if it ever presented itself. Trusting those sort of men was worse than trusting someone who flat out told you they were going to backstab you. “Let me introduce you to someone important.” He motioned for me to come over and I had to bite my tongue. I would not be treated like a dog. Which caused me to dig my heels in, cross my arms over my chest, and cock a brow in response.

“Hello.” A shaky response came from the balding man, even without prompt. Simon let out a huff before fulling turning so he could see me alongside Gregory.

“This here is Emilia Rogers. If I can’t come for a visit, she will be coming. And you better listen to her if you like keeping your ball sack attached to your body.” At the comment, I smirked. At least he understood what I was capable of and made sure to use it against others. “Negan likes her so I suggest that you and your men listen and don’t try to hurt her either. Not that you fuckers could but you get the idea.” He kept an arm around the man’s shoulders and led him to the study. I rolled my eyes and decided that my time was better spent looking around rather than listen to the two men go back and forth like broken records. On that notion, I took off to examine the manor home that we were stuck in for the time being.

It was a bit extravagant for my taste, reminding me of those stuck up assholes in the world before shit when down. The kind of people that would look down their nose at anyone who wasn’t rich enough, who didn’t fit their standards. Those were the people that I couldn’t stand. They weren’t worth anything then and they certainly weren’t now. If they had even survived.

The rooms were fairly well empty of anything that I deemed of use. Couple candles here and there, some sheets that weren’t any better than what we already had back at the Sanctuary. We had plenty of these things, there was no need to bring back more. Even those that worked for points didn’t need more of this crap. I stepped outside after finding nothing interesting inside. That was when I noticed a girl trying to keep one of the Saviors away from a cellar. It was obvious that she was working on trying to distract him and I smirked a bit as it didn’t work. Thank god some of the men had brains in their heads. And were lazy as all hell seeing as he didn’t want to carry the damn basket. My intrigue was caught though. There was something down in the cellar that she didn’t want us finding. Now what was it?

Whistling to catch his attention, he paused and waited for me to reach him.

“Shall we take a look down there?” He knew better than to question why it was I was joining him and nodded. “Have a gun ready will you? She was trying to keep you away from here for a reason. Would prefer if the extra muscle was actually prepared for a fight instead of being caught off guard.” He grunted by grabbed his gun anyway.

The cellar was quiet, stacked with some fruit and other dried foods. Something felt off though as I glanced around. The light was reflecting odd. I would know, I had spent a couple years as a kid finding refuge in places like this. There were always hiding spots. Maybe they had some fresh deer or something of the like hanging down here. Or maybe there was someone that we shouldn’t be finding hiding out. Either way, the prospect was too much to pass up. With a subtle signal towards the corner where I thought the space to be, I moved in the opposite direction to grab an apple. Immediately I bit into it and savored the taste of the fruit.

“Seems a bit too quiet down here, don’t you think? I mean, you can’t hear shit going on up there. And it doesn’t seem like anything to pick over too much.” He angled himself towards the corner like the good dog he was. “Guess it would make a good hiding spot. Unless someone was familiar with the set up. Then you would just have yourself back into a corner. What a shame that would be.” He shot the bottle that had been sitting on the shelf, causing the sounds of bodies moving to ring out. “Next one won’t miss so I suggest you get your asses out here now.”

Two bodies moved from behind the shelving unit. Daryl and a woman I didn’t recognize. Oh, this was just too perfect. Simon wasn’t getting the credit for this one. I aimed my own gun at the woman and Daryl dropped the knife he had been holding, knowing that he wasn’t in a good position.

“Whatever you got gets dropped too sweetheart. I’m really not in the mood for games.You see Daryl here has caused a bit of a stir and killed a friend of mine. So, he is pretty damn fucking lucky that Negan wants to see him back otherwise his brains would already be decorating the wall behind him. You on the other hand, well there is no need for your presence so if you want to continue living, I suggest you listen.”

“Don’t touch her.” I nearly laughed and motioned for the Savior opposite me to grab the man.

“Negan will be oh so happy to see your smiling face sunshine. Let’s get going.” I jerked my head to motion to the other to start moving with Daryl, keeping my gun trained on the woman as I bent down and picked up the knife that the redneck had had. It was a decent bowie and I was planning on keeping it. “Back to the truck now. And have someone get Simon.”

Heading up the cellar stairs, I kept my gun trained on the woman before quickly slamming the doors shut and placing a piece of wood through the handles. It wouldn’t hold long but it would be enough. I motioned for all the Saviors I could see to round up at the trucks, done with this excursion to Hilltop. Simon came wandering out a bit confused.

“We got what we needed, think it is time to head back.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, Gregory didn’t tell you about the little stowaway he has been keeping.” The glare that Simon leveled the man with was impressive.

“Here I was thinking that we had an understanding Greg. What a disappointment this is turning out to be.” He pulled his gun and shot someone in the chest, close to the damn heart, not bothering to see who he killed. “This sort of thing can’t go without punishment. We’ll be back later to figure out what that is. For now, this will have to suffice.” He shot another person, purposely missing the head so that they would reanimated soon. He moved to the truck with me as I shoved Daryl inside. He was going to be guarded by us until we got back.

“Boss is going to be happy as all hell.”

“You can say that again.”

“Did you just…agree with me?”

“Oh I wish I could take…”

“Nope! You said it. No take backs!” I couldn’t help the small laugh that came from me at the amusement that Simon had over such a small thing. Alright, so maybe it hadn’t been at terrible trip.


	4. Ain't All Smooth Sailing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A community decides to rally against the Saviors. Simon and Emilia have to try to squash it and get out alive.

Simon was bitching about something again and I had zoned him out about twenty minutes ago. Sure since things at Hilltop we had come to a sort of steady alliance. We both wanted to keep surviving and we both liked keeping the head honcho pleased so shit didn’t fall down our backs. Hell I even think I told him to relax, that I wasn’t taking his number one spot on the boss’s dick on the way back. That had been met with a glare before he finally laughed, finding as much amusement in my comment as I had when it had first flown out of my mouth without warning. Still, that didn’t always make dealing with him easy. There was a certain type of patience that was needed to deal with some of the fuckers at the Sanctuary and Simon fell into that special grouping.

I rolled my eyes and rubbed a hand over my face when I realized that he had stopped his talking long enough to be expecting a response out of me. Well shit, maybe I should have been paying some attention to him after all.

“Listen Simon, I got a shits night sleep and I’m still sore as fuck after that fucking shit for brain decided he wanted to get a little too personal. My brain isn’t in this fucking car right now. So I got no fucking answer for you for whatever you are expecting out of me.”

“You see doc?” I was a little surprised by the concerned sounding question that escaped his lips. I had expected him to sort of laugh it off and tell me to suck it up since I had ended the asshole’s life with a knife through his neck.

“Fuck that. It’s just a couple of fucking bruises. Nothing to be done. I don’t need anyone thinking that I am not capable of heading out or that I need restricted duty. Fucker is dead, I am a little banged up, we move fucking on.” He glanced towards me from his spot in the driver seat, as if trying to tell if I was genuine about the whole thing or not. I was a little more sore than I had let on. Likely there was a fractured rib or two but it wasn’t like I was going to take any pain medication and I wasn’t going to let it be shown as a sign of weakness. So I passed it off as a few bruises and when I had said that Ryan hadn’t done more than knock me around a bit as we fought, it was believed. Maybe if things had been a little different and I hadn’t been able to react quite as quickly as I had, there would have been a need for me to see the doctor at the compound but it had been avoided.

“Long as you are sure. Don’t need you dropping during this run.” I scowled and shot him a glare.

“I said I was fucking fine. Sore is very god damn different from being incapable of handling my responsibilities asshole.” I was testy, much more than I had been in the past few weeks. Mainly because of Ryan trying to corner me and forced himself on me. My mood had soured to shit and I was looking at everyone with a distrustful eye. Minus Negan, Simon, and a few of the men that I had brought with me when I first came to the Sanctuary that were still around.

“No need to bite my damn head off Em.” I rolled my eyes and slouched a bit further into the seat, ignoring the protest that came from my ribs at the motion. Flipping him off, I remained silent which brought an end to the conversation that had really been one sided to begin with. The car kept rolling towards our destination. A foul deed for a foul day. It was all fitting really.

We arrived to the new settlement that had been found, my eyes moving around the shitty set up and the even shitter looking people. My nerves were set on edge and this was not at all helping the situation. There was a tension in the air that promised nothing but trouble and Simon, as well as most of the group that we had with us, seemed oblivious to it. Only Mike, one of the men that had been with me since the beginning had read the signals like I had. We were both tense as he edged his way closer to me. Nice to know that I still held the assholes loyalty even when we were both living under Negan now.

A couple stepped forward, their movements slow and precise. And still, Simon was remaining more than unaware, a fact that actually worried the shit out of me. I mean really? He was Negan’s right hand. The man should have some more observation skills then that. Their body language was screaming hostile and the female’s eyes were darting around so fast that it was making my head spin. My hand moved to rest on my holster, other shifting to make a move to grab the club off my back. They were waiting for a signal, waiting for the right moment.

“Man, is this place a shit hole or what?” I gritted my teeth as Simon went through his usual routine. “But, I am sure you guys are decent scavengers. Can’t imagine you would have made it this far with this many people if you weren’t. I mean nothing here screams capable.” He was just as bad as Negan was with pushing buttons.

“Now that we have that out of the way, we are here to collect our shit. You best have it ready.” I caught the flash of light on the roof of the old farm silo much too late. The curse erupted from my lips as two of the Saviors behind me fell to the group with a heavy thump.

“Motherfucker.” I grabbed a hold of Mike and yanked him back towards the car as we watched those around us flood out of the buildings with weapons that they shouldn’t have had. “Fucking snipers. How the fuck did they get those fucking guns!” I was pissed. We had to hold our cover if we didn’t want a bullet between the eyes but it didn’t make the urge to bash some heads in and take out of few of these idiots go away. I jerked my head towards Simon, telling Mike to cover his ass.

“Get them rounded up and roll out. Make sure that Simon follows. I’ll make some time for the get away and hopefully hop into the back of a truck on your way out.” Even I knew that the man was more important than I was, he had to make it back. The man was reluctant but as always followed the order without questioning. There was no way for me to be able to see if I was in the clear or not. Gun shots were sounding out all around, Saviors and settlement dwellers engaged in a heated battle. We were making enough noise to wake the dead, meaning that a herd would surely come following the noise sooner rather than later. I didn’t want to have to deal with biters and these hillbillies all in the same go so we had to get our asses moving.

Firing down the narrow space between two homes, I hit one of the men dead between the eyes and the other was shot in the throat before I made a dash to the space. Not that it was particularly safe. Those rifles that were keeping us pinned could easily shoot through the material that these people had used to build their homes. To make my way to the silo would take too much time and I wasn’t sure the snipers would still be there or if they would have joined the battle. I needed a decent rifle off one of these assholes to see if I could pepper the rotting wood with a few shots. Hopefully it would be enough and hopefully I didn’t get a few new holes torn into my body.

Another two had to go down by my club before I was able to get my hands on something decent. I heard the sounds of the engines revving, meaning someone was safely inside one of the trucks. I prayed it wasn’t an idiot and he was keeping his head down so he wasn’t an easy shot for the marksmen. Sliding a bullet into the chamber, I found myself off to the right and seemingly out of the eyesight of the snipers right at the moment. No one was around me, most of the people from the settlement engaging the smaller group of Saviors. Perfect. Taking aim, I knew that I wouldn’t hit the individuals but I could scare them and made them give up the position if they hadn’t. We just needed enough space to hightail it out, just enough of a time frame for them to not pick us off like sitting ducks in the back of the trucks. The recoil of the gun was crap, worse than I expected the shitty rifle to hold which gave away my position almost immediately when the shot didn’t go where I wanted it to. Their fire was drawn to me and I cursed once more violently as I ducked. Pain radiated from my arm where a bullet had not quite pierced the skin but more than grazed it. Having to time the way that I was popping up out of the less than ideal cover, I was fired off a few more rounds that from the shouting and lack of any more high powered rounds being fired indicated that I had done what I had set out to do.

The men were loading up in the trucks quickly and I gave them the signal to continue on while I held off some of the group that was coming. Each shot fired was hitting its mark in some fashion as I beat a retreat, trying to stick close to the makeshift homes to hold onto some cover. Seeing the opportunity, I made a run for one of the trucks as it was passing by me, jumping to the bed with a few of the other men who were all but laying on top of one another to keep from getting their heads blown off.

That was when another loud bang rang out through the area. The pain in my arm was nothing compared to what ripped through my torso. The fire was immediate, extending outward to the top of my head and the tips of my toes. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to work through the mental processes that were needed to comprehend what had just happened to me. Eyes slowly fell as my knees hit a body beside me. Blood was blooming over my shirt as the bullet wound became apparently.

“Motherfucker.” The word slipped from my lips much more loose and soft sounding than it ever had in the time that I had known the Saviors.

“Shit!” I heard Simon curse from the front of the truck. He knew what happened, I could vaguely make out what appeared to be panic cross his face. Things were getting fuzzy though and my hearing began to short out on me. Those assholes were going to be how I died. And they didn’t have the courtesy to at least shoot me in the head so I didn’t turn. If I survived, I was going to end them all myself, one by one. And those were my last thoughts as I slipped through the darkness of unconsciousness.


	5. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emilia survived her gun shot wound. But her memory is gone.

Pain. That was what registered first in my mind as I came to. A hard, throbbing pain in my torso that extended it’s back down to almost my toes and the base of my skull. The radiating sort that said I was pretty damn injured. That much I knew. The not so soft surface of a bed beneath came next. What was missing was the sterilizing cleaner smell that came with a hospital. Christ, whatever the hell I had gotten into with Charles really left me fucked up if I was feeling this bad. I cracked open my eyes to be greeted by a dirty grey ceiling and low lighting. Frowning, I craned my neck to look around before I even attempted to shift my torso.

Shit, this place looked like something out of a bad horror movie. That got me moving a little quicker than I probably should have. I shot up into a seated position only to let out a yelp of pain and a long string of curse words as my hands moved to my side. Lifting the shift that didn’t seem familiar, I found some gauze wrapped tightly around my entire abdomen. Some blood was coming through hit. Had I been shot? That seemed to make the most sense.

The door opened, causing me to grip the bars of the bed I had been in a little tighter. Not that it would do me much good. It wasn’t any sort of weapon and right now, there was nothing in reach either. At least I could attempt to push this at whoever it was if I needed to.

“Well shit darling. I didn’t expect to see you fucking up. Aren’t you a sight for sore fucking eyes?” I frowned at the man that came walking in. There was no denying that he was cocky as shit. Dressed in a leather jacket, he was all smiles as he swung a baseball bat at his side that appeared to be wrapped in barbed wire and covered in a bit of blood. I held up my hands a bit.

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble? Where the hell am I and where is Charles? Did that fucker leave me here?” Confusion passed over his face and he stepped in closer, prompting me to take a couple of steps back.

“You are fucking joking right?” A hand fell to my side to press against the wounded area as if that would relieve any of the pain that I was feeling. “What the fuck did Carson give you?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about alright? The last thing I fucking remember is being on the tracks with the asshole shooting at some squirrels. Cops came by and we were high tailing it out of there. You aren’t the cops but did those fucking assholes shoot me?”

“Emilia.” He said my name and it sounded as if it was familiar to him but I had no clue who the fuck this guy was.

“If this is all some sort of fucked up joke because his ass is sorry I got hurt…” I shook my head. “You know what scratch that. I am shocked the fucker even bothered to come back for me in the first place. Unless he didn’t.”

“Lay the fuck back down. You are going to open up those fucking stitches. We barely had enough to close that fucking wound you managed to come back with as it was.” He pointed the bat at the bed.

“Like hell I am doing anything until I know what the fuck is going on.”

“Get back in the fucking bed.” His tone changed a bit, eyes hardening slightly. This was a situation that screamed danger and I was rather helpless at the moment even if I didn’t want to admit it. But I remained standing, unwilling to follow orders from whoever the hell this guy was. Submitting once meant doing it again, a lesson I had learned early on in life. He stepped closer and before I could reintroduce distance again, I was being poked lightly in the chest with that bat of his. “You might as well be a fucking stranger right now if you don’t remember shit. So this is how it fucking works around here. You listen to me when I tell you to fucking do something and we don’t have any fucking problems. Is that crystal fucking clear enough for you?” I swallowed hard and debated my options. Listening to this man could mean a hell of a lot of trouble for me but I was in no position or condition to fight given how my torso was.

“Fucking hell…” I grumbled as I carefully settled back onto the bed, only letting out two pained hisses. An accomplishment if I was being honest with myself considering my body protested each and every breath at this point. The man walked to the door, cracking it open and shouting out something about a man named Carson. Judging from the comment he had already made, this Carson guy must have been the one to patch me up.

He leaned against the wall, swinging his bat lightly at his side as he studied me. It was uncomfortable. Not the sort of uncomfortable gaze that I was used to. Not this was a different kind of uncomfortable. There was nothing else that came from him for the time being.

“Emilia you are awake.” A blond haired man stepped through the door. I narrowed my eyes, not liking that the numbers were no longer working in my favor. One on one, I could manage even hurt. Two on one with these injures? There was no chance. Now I felt caged. Never a good thing.

“She doesn’t seem to remember a fucking thing Doc. Fix it.” The demand was clear and the doctors face paled at it almost instantly. He moved over to me, sparing one more glance to the man by the door.

“Do you know where you are?”

“I fucking would if someone told me where I was.”  
“What’s your name?”

“Emilia Rogers. What’s the fucking point of this?”

“Where were you when the outbreak first occurred?”

“What outbreak? What the fuck are you talking about? Like illness? Flu? Sars? Ebola? Or something fucking else entirely?”

“Do you know what happened to you?”

“I am guessing I got fucking shot. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out when there is a fucking bullet hole in your body. Are you gonna answer any of my fucking questions here?”

“I think it is a retrograde amnesia Negan. Not uncommon after traumatic injuries, blood loss, and the shock that her body suffered.”

“Apparently fucking not.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the both men, lost as to what the hell was going on. Neither were giving me answers to help with the fact either.

“If neither of you assholes are going to answer my questions, I would really fucking appreciate it if you fucked off.” The doctors eyes seemed to grow wide at my comment and he nervously looked in the direction of the other man. So maybe he was the leader here, it sounded like he was getting used to getting his way. So it would make sense that he was the one in charge. Which means that no one likely talked to him the way that I currently was. Rolling my eyes, I got back off the bed. “I really don’t want to stay here. So where the hell can I go?” The man; who I assumed was Negan based off what Carson, the blond doctor guy, had called him, pushed off of the wall.

“Follow me.” I nodded and kept behind him by a few paces. It gave me enough distance that I could bolt or defend myself quickly if need be. “Carson, have everything that she needs sent to her room.”

“Of course.” He opened the door and moved out, leaving me to follow.

The halls were quiet as we walked through them. Drab and lacking any sort of color, it looked industrial to me. That didn’t give me a clue as to where we were though.

“Gotta lay out some ground fucking rules so you don’t end up getting yourself killed.”

“Like that would happen. I can take care of myself.”

“Oh I know you fucking can. Seen it first hand more than fucking once. But you don’t remember shit about this world. And that is real fucking dangerous.” This world? What the hell was he talking about? I wanted to ask but kept silent. Nothing else had been answered so far so I couldn’t expect that question to be the one he magically responded to. “Until you get your memory back, you stay in your fucking room unless escorted by me or by Simon. You stay away from the fence, no fucking questions asked. You will be lucky I don’t chain your ass to it if I catch you up there. You still don’t fucking work off points so don’t talk to anyone about anything. They don’t need to be knowing that you are off your game.” It was getting more confusing by the second and suddenly I wondered if I was stuck in some sort of closed off mental institute. The kind that was seen in old movies that were always haunted. Except the living inmates were running the asylum.

He opened a door.

“Welcome the fuck home.” I looked around. It felt like this would be my place. A couple guns and knives lay scattered about. And clothes that looked like that I would usually wear were tossed around as well. If this was real and I didn’t remember any of it, well it wasn’t too bad an existence compared to what I was experiencing on a normal basis. Stepping inside, I ran a hand over one of the guns, trying to find a familiar sensation anywhere at the moment. Everything about this all still felt foreign. I was supposed to know it and my brain seemed to understand that point, want to get back to when and where I did. But it just kept ending up on a damn dead end.

I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face in frustration, though the action was a mistake as it pulled all the muscles in my torso.

“You at least gonna tell me what the fuck happened? I was shot that much I know.”

“You were fucking shot. God damn community had it set up from the moment you and Simon stepped foot there. Did a hell of a job getting most of the men back from what I heard from Simon. You were in the back of the truck when one of the fucks got a lucky shot.” That seemed to make sense, giving the injuries on my side. I knew gun shot wounds and that certainly was a gun shot wound. I nodded in acceptance of the story he had told me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re fucking welcome. Now lay down and get some god damn rest before you open up all that hard work Carson was able to fucking manage.” There wasn’t much in me to argue at the moment seeing as I was feeling the effects of being up, straining my body when I shouldn’t have. So, I moved over to the bed without another word spoken and plopped myself down.

When I opened my eyes the next time, there was less of a start. Though the moans coming from outside my room were a little off. They were an odd sort of sound, a cross between a moan and a growl. It sounded like something was dying.

“What the hell?” Getting out of bed this time around was almost harder than it had been before but I mustered up enough to pull myself from the rather comfortable mattress. Cautiously, I crept towards the door, looking for something that I could pick up and use as a weapon. A large bowie knife sat on the nightstand that I swiped while moving. Some sort of ingrained instinct was screaming at me. This was a bad situation, I needed to get moving quick. The hairs on the back of my neck stood as I wrapped a hand around the handle of the door, keeping the knife raised in the other. With a slow three count, I jerked the door open.

I wasn’t prepared for what waited for me on the other side, the pain in my torso seeming to vanish as all the air in my lungs left in a rush.


End file.
